What is Good Nutrition
Good nutrition means eating foods each day
that will give you the vitamins, minerals, and
other things you need to keep your body strong.
It means eating foods that give you enough
calories to have a healthy body weight. It means
getting enough protein to keep your body built
up and repair any damage it may have.
Good nutrition means different things at
various stages of an HIV infection. This booklet
will tell you what you need to know about
eating right during each of these different
stages:
- Perhaps you are infected with HIV but
have no
signs of disease. In this case, concentrate on
eating a wide variety of healthy foods each
day.
There is no one type of food that has
everything
our bodies need. Try to choose all of your
foods
from the basic groups of foods described
later in this information.
- Perhaps your HIV infection is causing
minor health problems. Eating may be
uncomfortable
or your appetite may be poor right now, but
it is so important to eat well. Sometimes
you'll find
that by avoiding certain foods and eating
others or changing the time that you eat or
the amount that you eat can make you feel a lot
better. Look
at the suggestions in this section to help
with your eating problems.
- Perhaps your HIV infection is causing
serious health problems, and you may even
need assistance in shopping, cooking or
eating. Keep
in close contact with your doctor and use
the suggestions in this book to help you
carry out his advice concerning food and
eating. Share the suggestions in this section
with people who care about you so that
they'll know how to help.
